A Walk In The Park

Back in April I posted about noxious weeds in the Puget Sound area after wondering about all the weeds in my garden. What I should come to understand about them before weeding them out. My roommate sent me a link to this blog about edible weeds: http://www.eattheweeds.com/ Well this man is working out of FL so obviously the plants will be different. I like his acronym "ITEM" which signifies an ethic toward reasonable wildcrafting.

[I] Identify - the plant (no pretending)

[T] Timing - consider the plant's needs, should you be harvesting right now?

[E] Environment - is right here a proper place to eat from?

[M] Method - be careful (do it for the kids)

I recently went for a walk in the park (Boeing Creek in Shoreline), December 24, 2012 to see what is growing. I brought one of my guide books. Northwest Foraging by Doug Benoliel If it were back in the day and I had to rely on berries, plants and roots, what could I reasonably eat from this park? I was mostly curious about edible greens. I saw a lot of Oregon Grape.

As for environment, I'd harvest from this sweet little, woodland. I used to run these trails back in Cross Country. Here is a nice, historical article about the park: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Creek And atleast one review on Yelp recommends the park for smoking pot and harvesting Indian Plum (not the time of year for that one). But most of all how could I say no to this beautiful log formation?

I saw one plant with enough abundance and large leaves just perfect for a salad. But I didn't know what it was. The book I had with my demonstrated no similar pictures. No answers.

Now King County has a great archive of "noxious weed photographs" http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/noxious-weeds/weed-identification.aspx for people like me without a mentor to follow. Though they are largely organized by flower color and now is not this plant's time of year for flowers. You can send them your photos though through email and they will help you identify it.

Needless to say my ITEMs weren't checking out so I left the park with only a few photographs.

Jasmine Dream Medicine

I am drinking Jasmine tea as I write this.

Herbalist Corinne Boyer came into my dream last night with jasmine berries like a gift from God. Before I went to bed I decided I wanted to remember something from my dreams tonight. She had visited our community house and stayed the night. We'd had a huge feast and I was in the kitchen the next morning taking care of a huge pile of dishes. She was attending to my friend Desiree who was getting ready to leave for work and came up to me with a jar of granola she'd made. She told me the berries were jasmine and blueberries. The jasmine was a pink berry. I looked these plants up online because other than knowing blueberries are "superfruits" antioxidants I don't know much about them.

Jasmine is in the olive family (Oleaceae) and is valued for it's perfume and incense. It grows in subtropical and tropical zones but has been naturalized in some mediterranean climates. The flower only opens at night. It is more of a ritual flower than medicine - though rituals are a powerful medicine - in marriages, religious ceremony, and festivals. In Thailand they are a symbol for motherhood. They are the national flower in countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Phillipines. The name is derived from Yasameen ("gift from God") through Arabic and Latin. (Info from Wikipedia...) Check out these beautiful images:

Also the plant is medicinal and is more often used in Women's Health, particularly in Ayurvedic medicine. Some properties include: astringent, antibacterial, antiviral, cooling, bitter. It is said to treat breast cancer, stimulate the uterus, calm nerves and act as an aphrodesiac (probably in aromatherapy). Specifically in aromatherapy jasmine treats depression and is used during childbirth. Because it's said to be an emmenagogue (stimulate blood flow in pelvic area and uterus) an emollient (soothing and softening) and galactagogue (increasing milk supply).

More information: http://www.ageless.co.za/herb-jasmine.htm